The goals for the next four years range from the concrete, such as more than doubling trading volumes, to the aspirational aim of “significantly increasing the international influence” of Shanghai’s markets.

The government said on Monday these were intermediate steps towards the ultimate objective of making Shanghai an “international financial centre that is consistent with China’s economic strength” by 2020.

The city’s stock, bond and commodities markets are already among some of the world’s biggest. The Shanghai Stock Exchange was ranked sixth globally in terms of market capitalisation in 2010, just behind London.

But stringent capital controls have cut Shanghai off from other markets and foreign institutions are only allowed to invest small amounts in it. The latest plan promised only a gradual removal of these barriers.

Kevin Lai, an economist with Daiwa Capital Markets, said China’s legal and accounting systems also required substantial improvements. “You need a platform that is market-driven and rules-based, an environment in which contracts can be enforced to international standards,” he said.

The Shanghai city government and the National Development and Reform Commission, a powerful economic planning agency, outlined four areas of focus in the 25-page document published on Monday.

“We try to keep the lights and air conditioning switched off for as long as possible,” says Mr. Zhen, dressed in a thin white cotton shirt on a sweltering summer day. His agency occupies an office in downtown Shanghai that was once a magnet for millionaire speculators, and is now almost deserted.

Official figures released Thursday offer further evidence that the government’s efforts to squeeze China’s property bubble are having an impact. Prices of newly built homes in 39 of 70 large and medium-sized Chinese cities covered in a government survey rose in July from the previous month, down from 44 cities in June.

Prices in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and some other cities were flat in July from June.

Flat prices in Shanghai reflect the fact that turnover in China’s most expensive property market has fallen sharply since the start of the year, particularly in the luxury segment.

Sales of newly built homes in China’s commercial capital in the first seven months of this year fell 5.8% to 8.58 million square meters in terms of floor space from the year-earlier period, while prices rose 2.6% over the same period, according to official data.

However, despite a government push this year for more-accurate home-price data from China’s National Bureau of Statistics, international markets—and most Chinese consumers—remain deeply dubious of the official monthly figures. Confidence in the official figures is so low that the markets pay more attention to numbers from a private data provider, the China Real Estate Index System.

According to data from the China Real Estate Index System, prices of new apartments in Shanghai have risen by more than 150% in the past five years. That outpaces a 107% increase in wages over the same period—moving home ownership further out of reach for average earners. But the official data tell a different story. According to China’s NBS, prices for new apartments in Shanghai have climbed 20% over the past five years—well below the increase in wages.

Transactions are mainly from first-time buyers or upgraders purchasing more modest homes. Rich businessmen from nearby Zhejiang province, famed for driving up Shanghai’s property market in the boom years, have largely pulled out.

Cracks started appearing in Shanghai’s property market after the government in October limited households to buying one additional home, on top of existing nationwide curbs on bank lending. Out-of-towners need to prove that they have paid social security taxes before they can purchase a home in the city, and if they are already homeowners, they aren’t permitted to purchase additional homes.

Shenzhen Gas, a liquefied gas distributor that listed a 900 million-yuan IPO in Shanghai on Friday, closed up 118 percent at 15.17 yuan from its IPO price of 6.95 yuan, easily beating an average analyst forecast of only 8.5 yuan and betraying clear signs of heavy speculation in new shares that has been common in China’s nascent stock market.

Shenzhen Gas is now valued at 101 times its 2008 earnings compared with an average historical price earnings ratio of 38 times for China’s power utility counters. Its forecast PE for 2009, based on analysts’ estimates, reached 80 times compared with a sector average of 33 times.

A second batch of eight companies debuting on China’s Nasdaq-style ChiNext market in Shenzhen on Friday jumped between 33 and 64 percent, with software maker Beijing Supermap Software Co 300036.SZ the biggest gainer with a jump to 32.20 yuan from its IPO price of 19.60 yuan.

Leading the losers on Friday was chemical raw materials maker Tanshan Sanyou Chemical Industries Co (600409.SS), which closed down 6.86 percent at 8.55 yuan after the company unexpectedly said late on Thursday that it had given up a previously announced plan to acquire control of a chemical fiber maker.